Dark matter is an invisible force that doesn’t emit or reflect light, and is only detectable through gravity. It makes up around 27 percent of the observable universe and scientists have long predicted that the ghostly substance plays a crucial role in the makeup of our entire universe.

“For decades, researchers have been predicting the existence of dark-matter filaments between galaxies that act like a web-like superstructure connecting galaxies together,” Mike Hudson, an author of the study, said in a statement. “This image moves us beyond predictions to something we can see and measure.”

The composite was created with images of over 23,000 galaxy pairs collected from a multi-year sky survey at the Canada-France-Hawaii telescope.